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Giving Kids Their Own Reading Spot

Posted by on May 4, 2013 in Reading Nook | 0 comments

 

It’s not like the “corner.”  A reading nook that will encourage your kids to read at home should not be a place that they associate with something that happens when they get into mischief.  It has to be a fun place where they can have their own adventure whether from the stories that they read or from stories that they create themselves.  An age-appropriate reading nook will make it easier for your children to develop the love for reading and learning.

For toddlers and pre-school aged kids, your reading nook should have padded floors and walls.  You can have a book rack with all his favorite books.  Make sure that your reading nook furniture pieces do not have sharp corners.  Better yet, you can have throw pillows on the floor where you and your little one can cuddle up for reading time.  Some reading nooks have puppet stages or doll houses where the characters of the storybook adventures can come alive.

Bookish

bookstore reading corner

Older kids who can read by themselves should already have an organized reading nook.  They would need to have their own reading chair.  Parents should still have their own spot in their child’s reading nook to allow him to be with his child when he wants to have company while he reads.  For families with more than one child, having a small table with a few chairs around can accommodate kids who want to spend reading time together.

Teeners are a little bit of a challenge to build or designate any space for.  Some teeners would opt to isolate themselves in their rooms while they read and do other things.  You can still find a way to give your teen his own reading spot while at the same time giving him some privacy.  He can actually have his nook inside his room.  Or, if you don’t want him staying in his room all the time, you can give him his own corner in the den or build him a comfortable reading perch out in the yard.

Unlike adult reading nooks, children’s reading nooks are often more colorful.  Relaxation is often not the goal when kids go to their nooks.  Mental stimulation and stirring their imagination is the goal of reading.  A children’s reading nook is therefore often a fun and exciting place.  When they have such a space where they can let their imagination run wild, kids will surely go from one book to another without much coaxing.

reading nook

photo by Supergail – http://www.flickr.com/photos/12387001@N00/

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3 Young Adult Books Every Teacher Should Read (and Teach)

Posted by on May 2, 2013 in Book List | 0 comments

 

The ability for a teacher to empathise with their students is something that can either be an innate talent or the result of years of experience in classrooms. Whatever the route that needs to be taken to gain the quality, it is essential for teachers with pupils of all age groups to be able to understand their students’ concerns and worries.

When it comes to young adults, this can be an even more acute problem. Fortunately there is a wealth of great literature that not only gives a great insight into what people of that age might be going through but is also very popular with the target age group.

Here are three books aimed at young adults than can help you and them deal with relevant issues:

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddon

Good for: teaching about learning difficulties, acceptance and social problems

The book is narrated in the first-person by Christopher, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as “a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties.” The exact condition of the character is not explicitly referenced in the text, however, Christopher has Asperger syndrome (AS), a form of high-functioning autism that is sometimes called ‘savant syndrome.’ The book follows Christopher as he investigates the murder of a neighbour’s black poodle.

This 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon is a great work for delving into issues regarding learning disabilities. The book has won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

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Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Good for: teaching about emotional development, growing up and adolescence

This coming-of-age novel is narrated through a series of letters written by Charlie, a high school freshman. With a cult following much like that of Catcher in the Rye, the narrative takes the form of a series of letters from the protagonist written to an anonymous person. The story deals with social issues and struggles of fitting in, sexuality, suicide, abuse and falling in love.

The book was written by American novelist Stephen Chbosky and in 2012 it was adapted into a film.

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Title: Go Ask Alice

Author: anonymous

Good for: teaching about drugs, substance abuse and peer pressure

Although written in 1971, this based-on-fact story about the life of a troubled teenage girl remains relevant to issues surrounding substance abuse today. Written in the form of the diary of an anonymous teenage girl who became addicted to drugs, the title is taken from a line in Jefferson Airplane’s hit song from the 60s White Rabbit.

The story caused a sensation when published but remains in print as of 2012. Revelations about the book’s origin have caused some doubt over its authenticity and factual accounts to arise, and the publishers have listed it as a work of fiction since at least the mid-late 80s. Still published as a work of fiction today, it often appears under the byline “anonymous” but is widely considered to be the true life story of its editor Beatrice Sparks.

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Jane Parkinson writes on behalf of Randstad Education, a UK based education recruitment company who recruit for all subjects from maths to music. 

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The Brain Behind the Products You Love: Consumer Psychology and You

Posted by on Apr 2, 2013 in Information | 0 comments

 

One of the more fascinating fields of consumer research is the study of consumer behavior. This field is relatively young and based on the work of Abraham Maslow and Arnold Mitchell at the Standard Research Institute in Palo Alto, CA. Consumer psychology masters programs introduces students into the math, science and behavioral factors behind consumer behavior.

Companies, large and small, use consumer psychology to design, engineer, package and market products to subgroups of consumers they’ve identified using different types of primary research and classifying the results using sophisticated statistical analyses. This type of research is also called psychographic research.

image via http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Although measuring the reaction of consumers to new products and ideas is one of the most complex types of primary research, it’s also the most rewarding in terms of applications. Learning the science and art behind consumption patterns is a large part of consumer psychology masters programs.

Psychographics allow companies to delve deeper into product preferences than just segmenting using demographic information. On the surface, two people may have similar demographics, but widely different product preferences. Consumer psychology explains the reasons.

People tend to respond to products based on what the product says about them. Consumer psychologists have developed systems that measure the reactions that subgroups have to the message that the product conveys. They develop quantitative techniques to classify the broader population into different segments, making it easy to target well-defined subsets of consumers.

Products and services appeal to people for different reasons. Some groups strive for buying and using demonstrably unique and authentic products, while other groups stick with more tried and proven brands that give them a sense of approval and belonging. It’s the role of a consumer psychologist to uncover those motivations, quantify the size of the group and determine their purchasing power.

When companies uncover the forces that drive consumers to their products, they understand what prompts people to buy them. This information helps them either build stronger brand loyalty or reach out to a broader market by simply changing the product a bit to appeal to another consumer segment.

Consumer psychologists use a constellation of factors to cluster characteristics about people based on their reactions to different issues that drive their values.  These psychologists also use a battery of demographics about the population to further define their subgroups.

Working in the field of consumer psychology typically requires an advanced degree, since it’s a complex field requiring excellent written and verbal communication skills, analytical abilities and research experience. Nearly all the research done in the field of consumer psychology is applied to commercial or business ventures in some capacity, and enjoying interacting with clients could be a significant component of the role of someone working in this field.

Although the barriers to entry are high, the rewards are great. People who are intellectually curious and who find creative problem-solving enjoyable thrive in this branch of market research. The product applications could be as simple as positioning paper clips to attract an environmentally conscious consumer to complex industries, as designing, building and marketing cars and homes.

An advanced degree helps build credibility with the clients that use psychographic data, since the results could be applied to their strategic planning, design and development programs. The research itself is more expensive to administer and deliver, and the execution of the findings could alter a company’s course for years to come.

It’s the one field of research that delivers clear results with an eye toward implementation. Companies who apply the results to their business usually see demonstrable results, since the point of the research is to provide a concrete direction and road map for the future.

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Reading On the Go with Audio Books from Audible

Posted by on Mar 21, 2013 in Apps | 0 comments

First there were e-books, now there is Audible. Life is certainly getting better for all the bookworms out there. There is no reason to miss out on the latest bestsellers when one has an e-book or audio book that enables users to access their favorite novels and texts while on the go. But one must admit that the audio books get the upper hand when it comes to reading convenience. Avid readers can simply play the books on their gadgets and listen. This allows them to “read” while traveling, multi-tasking, or even with their eyes closed.

Bookworms who want to get access to a wide selection of audio books can simply visit the Audible site and take their bestseller picks. Audible is a subsidiary of amazon.com that sells a wide selection of audio books online. Consumers can simply purchase and download books from the site anytime they want. iPhone and iPad users get the added convenience of having the Audio Books from Audible app available for their gadgets. This application enables users to transfer books to any compatible device via wi-fi. Readers can also enjoy basic features of book marking, chapter navigation, variable narration speed, sleep mode and button free mode, update friends on your current read through facebook and twitter, keep track of your listening habits, and earn badges. The latest version includes a Whispersync for Voice which allows users to easily switch between listening and reading. Unfortunately, the new version also has flaws like the absence of volume control and skip button which disappointed their old time users.

The best way to spend idle time is to enrich the mind. Listening to an audio book is the most effortless way to feed one’s mind and cultivate the imagination. Even with the flaws in the Audible app, there are users who still find it handy for enjoying books while on the go.

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